A number of back lighting illumination systems are currently known and some of the known back lighting illumination systems are capable of providing a substantially uniform illumination of an object for viewing, such as by a machine vision system, while other known back lighting illumination systems are not truly uniform. In particular, some of the known non-uniform back lighting illumination systems generate "hot spot" areas which are of a brighter intensity than the illumination supplied by the remaining area of the back lighting illumination system. This non-uniformity in illumination can cause false readings or perception by the machine vision system and is to be avoided.
In the known back lighting illumination systems which provide a substantially uniform illumination, they are very power intensive and employ a large array of illumination elements which increases their size. Further, the known systems generally do not efficiently use all of the supplied light to provide the uniform back lighting illumination. The prior art back lighting illumination systems also generate substantial heat during use.